Devices for dismounting and remounting driving rollers



p 1967 J. M. c. DRYON 3,340,036

DEVICES FOR-DISMOUNTING AND REMOUNTING DRIVING ROLLERS Filed Jan. 24, 1963 I 3 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 5, 1967 J. M. c. DRYON 3,340,036

DEVICES FOR DISMOUNTING AND REMOUNTING DRIVING ROLLERS Filed Jan. 24, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 5, 1967 J. M, c. DRYON 3,340,036

DEVICES FOR DIMOUNTiNG AND REMOUNTING DRIVING ROLLERS Fil ed Jan. 24, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 3,340,036 DEVICES FOR DISMOUNTING AND REMOUNT- ING DRIVING ROLLERS Jacques Max Charles Dryon, Auvelais, Belgium, assignor to Ateliers Heuze, Malevez et Simon Reunis Societe Anonyme, Auvelais, Belgium, :1 Belgian company Filed Jan. 24, 1963, Ser. No. 253,720 Claims priority, application Belgium, Feb. 5, 1962, 489,382, Patent 613,494 4 Claims. (Cl. 65-253) This invention relates to a device enabling pairs of rollers to be dismounted and remounted during the displacement of a continuous ribbon of glass or like material being driven by the said rollers.

Such rollers are used particularly in lines for the continuous shaping of glass, such as continuous twin polishing (twin douci continu or twin poli continu). In such installations, the various pairs of driving rollers are arranged between the shaping devices for the purpose of guiding the continuous ribbon of glass and imparting a longitudinal advancing movement thereto.

Operations for dismounting and remounting driving rollers for inspection or repair when carried out with known means are particularly laborious, because access to the rollers is rendered difficult; in particular, in continuous glass-shaping installations, it is even necessary to break the ribbon of glass over a certain length upstream of the roller to be dismounted. The length to be broken depends on the speed of advance of the ribbon and on the duration of dismounting and remounting, which itself is a function of the number and skill of the operators.

The device according to the invention remedies these disadvantages by allowing the dismounting and remounting operations to be carried out easily whilst the ribbon continues to move along.

To this end the device comprises for each of the rollers a supporting path, the track of which is parallel with axis of the roller, a gripping or supporting means for the roller, capable of being displaced on the supporting path and a means for imparting an axial displacement to the rollers.

For the upper roller the supporting path is preferably a beam which is provided with lateral shoulders parallel with the axis of the roller and arranged below the upper cross-bar of the frame, in which the pair of rollers is mounted, one of the ends of the beam being articulated to a vertical pivot extending from the cross-bar and the other end bearing on a horizontal support fixed to the frame and preferably having the form of a sector of a circle centered on the vertical pivot. The lateral shoulders of the beam constitute the tracks on which the roller-gripping means is capable of moving.

For the lower roller, the supporting path consists of two longitudinal beams arranged parallel with the axis of this roller, between the latter and the lower crossbar of the frame the longitudinal beams bearing on the said cross-bar and each of them comprising a track on which the roller-supporting means is capable of moving.

The upper roller-gripping means consists of pincers with jaws capable of closing round the roller or round a journal of the roller when the latter has been raised to detach it from the continuous ribbon being treated. These pincers are solid with a carriage capable of moving on the supporting path. The carriage is preferably provided with small rollers rolling on the tracks of the supporting path.

The supporting means for the lower roller is a cradle receiving the roller when it has been lowered to detach it from the continuous ribbon, the said cradle being capable of sliding on the tracks of the supporting path.

3,340,036 Patented Sept. 5, 1967 The means for imparting an axial displacement to the rollers comprises a winch the cable ends of which are fixed on either side of the gripping or supporting means.

The accompanying drawing shows by way of example one embodiment of the invention applied to a continuous twin polishing.

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a part of a continuous twin polishing line.

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of the frame with the pair of driving rollers during a stage of extracting the upper roller.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the supporting path for the upper roller, the part in dot-dash lines showing the positioning of the supporting path and pivoting about its axis.

FIGURE 4 is a section along the line IVIV of FIG- URE 2, on an enlarged scale.

As shown in FIGURE 1, between the upper and lower polishing devices 1 and 2, only the outlines of which are shown, are located the roller frames 3 comprising an upper roller 4 and a lower roller 5 driving the continuous ribbon of glass 6 which passes between the said rollers. The journals of the rollers are engaged in the bearings 7, 8, 9 and 10 (FIGURE 2) in turn supported by a device (not shown) connected to the frame and enabling the rollers to be moved towards or away from the ribbon of glass. The rollers are driven by a device not shown located in the vicinity of the bearings 7 and 9 and imparting the advancing movement to the ribbon.

The device according to the invention comprises for the upper roller 4 as supporting path a beam 11 which is articulated to the vertical pivot 12 extending downwards from the cross-bar 13 of the frame and which rests at its other end through small rollers 14 on a support 15 extending laterally in the form of an arc of a circle centered on the pivot 12, as shown in FIGURE 3.

A locking means 16 retains the beam 11 in its normal position parallel with the axis of the roller 4. The beam is provided with two lateral shoulders 17 which constitute the tracks of the small rollers 18 of a carriage 19 (FIGURES 2 and 4), on which is mounted pincers 20 (FIGURE 4) having jaws 21 and 22, the second, movable one of which can be operated by means of a lever 23 to close it on the journal 4'.

For the lower roller 5 the supporting path is formed by two longitudinal beams 24 constituted in this instance by tubes held by supports 25 fixed to the lower crossbar 26 of the frame. These longitudinal beams serve as slides for a carriage 27 carrying a cradle 28 capable of receiving the lowered roller 5 when detached from the ribbon 6 (FIGURE 4).

The displacement of the carriages 19 or 27 is carried out by means of winches 29 and 29' and cables 30 and 30', the ends of which are fixed at 31 (FIGURE 4) to the carriage on either side of the latter, as shown in FIGURE 2 for the lower carriage 27.

The dismounting of the rollers is carried out without stopping the advance of the ribbon 6, by axial displacement of the rollers, using the device described as well as tools commonly used in similar cases, comprising for example lengthening pieces 32 fixed to the ends of the rollers and supported by trestles 33 having grooved rollers 34 (FIGURE 2). The bearing 8 or 10 is freed from its support and by means of the winch 29, the roller 4 or 5 is withdrawn whilst being supported by the upper carriage 19 or lower one 27. The remounting of a repaired roller is carried out in the reverse sequence.

The carriage 19, moving on the small rollers 18, requires a relatively small effort for its displacement under load, so that the use of a winch, although advantageous, is not absolutely indispensable, whereas the use of a winch makes the displacement of the lower carriage 27 much easier and quicker, as this carriage has to move by sliding, owing to the glass waste and abrasive deposits which may be found on the tracks of the lower supporting path and render the use of small rollers inadvisable.

The movement of the beam 11 about the pivot 12 allows its end remote from the pivot to leave the plane of the frames 3 with a view to being able to use the carriage 19 successively on the roller track of the beams of several upper rollers. The carriage may be easily engaged on the roller track of a beam placed obliquely, as indicated in dot-dash lines in FIGURE 3. After having pivoted the beam, locked it by means of the lock 16 in its normal position and moved away the movable jaw 22, it only remains to fold back this jaw when the fixed jaw 21 has come into contact with the journal of the roller, to render the latter solid with the carriage, which allows the axial displacement of the roller without incurring any risk of damage to the ribbon of glass travelling a short distance away, in spite of the restricted space available for this operation.

Similarly, the lower roller resting on the cradle of the carriage 27 is narrowly guided during its axial displacement and protected from any false movement on the part of the operators, handling heavy loads under bad conditions of accessibility.

Naturally the invention is not restricted to the embodiment which has been described and shown by way of example, and modifications can be made therein without going beyond the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for removing and replacing vertically spaced parallel rolls, said apparatus comprising an elongated beam mounted above the upper roll parallel to the axis thereof, a carriage mounted on said beam for axial movement above said upper roll, gripping means on said carriage for engaging and supporting one end of said upper roll, whereby upon movement of said carriage along said beam said upper roll will be moved axially, a pair of spaced, parallel rails mounted below the lower roll parallel to the axis thereof, a cradle slidably mounted on said rails for axial movement, said cradle serving to engage and support one end of said lower roll, and means to move said cradle in either direction to move said lower roll axially.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which one end of said beam is pivotally mounted on a vertical axis to permit horizontal pivotal movement of said beam, a horizontal support for slidably supporting the opposite end of said beam, and means for releasably locking said opposite end of said beam in position with said beam parallel to the axis of said upper roll.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said gripping means comprises opposed jaws, at least one jaw being pivotally mounted on said carriage, and means for opening and closing said jaws to grip and release said upper roll.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which the means to move said cradle in either direction comprises a winch mounted at one end of said rails, a cable on said winch connected to said cradle, a second winch mounted at the opposite end of said rails, and a cable on said second winch connected to said cradle.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,677,979 5/1954 Peterson 7235 DONALD H. SYLVESTER, Primary Examiner. S. LEON BASHORE, Examiner.

D. CRUPAIN, A. D. KELLOGG,

Assistant Examiners. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR REMOVING AND REPLACING VERTICALLY SPACED PARALLEL ROLLS, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BEAM MOUNTED ABOVE THE UPPER ROLL PARALLEL TO THE AXIS THEREOF, A CARRIAGE MOUNTED ON SAID BEAM FOR AXIAL MOVEMENT ABOVE SAID UPPER ROLL, GRIPPING MEANS ON SAID CARRIAGE FOR ENGAGING AND SUPPORTING ONE END OF SAID UPPER ROLL, WHEREBY UPON MOVEMENT OF SAID CARRIAGE ALONG SAID BEAM SAID UPPER ROLL WILL BE MOVED AXIALLY, A PAIR OF SPACED, PARALLEL RAILS MOUNTED BELOW THE LOWER ROLL PARALLEL TO THE AXIS THEREOF, A CRADLE SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID RAILS FOR AXIAL MOVEMENT, SAID CRADLE SERVING TO ENGAGE AND SUPPORT ONE END OF SAID LOWER ROLL, AND MEANS TO MOVE SAID CRADLE IN EITHER DIRECTION TO MOVE SAID LOWER ROLL AXIALLY. 